The County’s renovation of the John C. Begovich is nearly complete. According to GSA Director John Hopkins the mission of preparing the building to become the new home of the Amador County Superior Court is apparently on time and on budget. “Every project has a contingency and do not believe that we have exceeded that contingency,” said Hopkins. He also said construction of the project is “85-90% complete” and that they still have some remaining items on the project list. “We are planning on having the building substantially complete by April,” said Hopkins.  He also said that in a recent meeting with the Amador Superior Court they indicated that their move in date would be in June. “The Court’s first scheduled day of operation is June 25th 2007. They will be moving in the weekend before.”  Hopkins said in closing, “We are trying to hit that date sometime in April…and hopefully we make it. It is a work in progress.”

Some faulty bolts over the Memorial Day weekend caused some concern among AWA staff regarding the Transmission pipeline when water was reported spouting out the pipeline. AWA crews arrival on the Mondani property located off of New York Ranch Road determined that an air release valve that is attached to the pipeline had become unattached and was in turn was shooting water that was visible from the roadway. According to Gene Mancebo, Manager of Engineering and Planning said, “It appears bolts that hold it down were either faulty or didn’t get tightened correctly and (the valve) came loose.” AWA staff responded quickly and was able to turn off the spouting water and fix the problem.

Last week the Plymouth city council decided that joining the proposed Amador Regional Planning Committee, a joint powers authority, was not in the best interest of the city. The joint powers authority is proposed to act as a forum for discussion over regional issues. The J-P-A membership consists of one elected official from each participating city, a member of the Board of Supervisors and at least one citizen at large.

The Ione City Council approved the new agreement between Portlock International and the City regarding the use of treated water at Castle Oaks Golf Course. The new agreement was developed at a meeting held on June 11th .  The agreement was prepared quickly but it was pointed out by Dominic Atlan who manages the Castle Oaks Clubhouse that it was not prepared in haste.

The Board of Supervisors donned another hat on Tuesday as they served as the Board of Equalization to make a  determination on whether the Revenue and Tax Code was applicable to the situation that came before them. The issue before them stems from an application that was submitted for a change in property tax assessments by Charles Howard, III Trust’s for the assessment of a mineral rights interest that had changed ownership back in 2000. That is when Unimin Corp. acquired the mineral rights from the former owner of the sand mine located on Rancho Arroyo Sec, also known as the Grant.

The Sutter Gold Mine Company (a subsidiary of U.S. Energy Corporation), in conjunction with numerous landowners, plans to reopen the underground gold mine approximately one mile north of the town of Sutter Creek, formerly the Lincoln Mine. Because of change in landownership at this facility previously approved waste discharge requirements must be revised and updated by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. This update will reflect activities completed since the Waste Discharge Requirements were first adopted some years ago. No changes in the proposed operations or construction of this facility have been proposed, however, when the planned construction occurs according to Regional Board documentation this underground gold mine and processing facility will generate both liquid and solid waste streams that pose a threat to water quality.

A crowd gathered at the Amador County Transportation Commission building to honor long time Transportation minded citizen Bill Breiner. Breiner was appointed as ACTC in 1992 by the Board of Supervisors. He served in that capacity for 14 years was elected as the Chairman of the commission for 12 consecutive years of his tenure. . Last night, ACTC Executive Director Charles Field commended Breiner on making Amador County’s Transportation System what it is today. Supervisor Louis Boitano presented Breiner with a resolution honoring him for his dedicated service. ACTC General Manager Pat Ireland, then revealed a sign dedicating the current ACTC building to Bill Breiner for his years of dedicated service.

Controversy in the community continues to swirl around a specific recommendation that the Social Services Transportation Council made to the Amador County Transportation Commission for an “Unmet” transportation need in the community. Once a year ACTC holds a hearing to discuss transportation needs of the community and then prioritizes for the expenditures under the states “Unmet Transportation” needs program which is funded by a ¼ of a percent sales tax returned to the county from the state. This year ACTC is looking to allocate dollars and discussions have centered around 5 basic recommendations that center around providing night time and weekend transportation services through a taxi voucher system, increasing awareness in the community about the Amador Regional Transit System, or ARTS, and its services, adding new routes and perhaps the most controversial- a snow bus to Kirkwood for skiers and snow boarders on Saturdays.

Local Amador County resident Mikayla Hirschel of Jackson was one of 4000 applications for the National American Miss Pre-Teen Pageant held this last weekend in Santa Clara. Of the 4,000 girls, only 85 were picked as State finalist for the competition. The girls competed in formal wear, verbal interviews, modeling, acting, photogenic, public speaking and community service. Mikayla and seven other contestants were chosen as State Ambassadors to represent California. The State Ambassadors all received invitations to the National pageant to compete for the National title in November. Mikayla is an honor student at Jackson Middle school and hopes to become a Super Model someday. Congratulations and good luck Mikayla.

Last week the city of Plymouth adopted their new capital facilities fees for the city. Consultants from the Goodwin Consulting Group gave the council their final presentation of the studies last Thursday. The council was wary of adopting the new fees as the Plymouth Pipeline is still unfinished. Councilman Jon Colburn asked, “How can we adopt accurate water fees when, in a few months, we will have a new pipeline?” Goodwin consultants told the council that the fees are amendable once they are adopted; however, a new Nexus study would be then required. The previous study was conducted and presented to the City Council in December of 2006. The study identified the capital facilities that will be needed over the next 20 years in the city, and the fees that will be needed to construct them. These fees will then be charged to new development on a per home or commercial development basis.